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Theories · Death · Military and warfare · Race and ethnicity

Camp Van Dorn Slaughter

The Camp Van Dorn Slaughter was a racial hoax popularized in the self-published book The Slaughter: An American Atrocity by Carroll Case in 1998. Case alleged that some 1,200 African-American soldiers of the United States Army's 364th Infantry Regiment were killed by White American soldiers at Camp Van Dorn in June 1943. Case's book, more than two-thirds acknowledged fiction, consists of two sections: Part One has 54 pages of purported history, and Part Two has 200+ pages, described by Case as a fictionalized account of the alleged events. No hard evidence has been found to support Case's allegations, despite a more than year-long investigation by the Department of Defense, and most observers have dismissed this claim of a massacre.

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Action items

Prevention steps

  1. StopNotice a strong emotion (anger, fear, 'they don't want you to know') before you share. Pause first.
  2. Investigate the sourceWho is making the claim, what's their expertise, and what do they gain if you believe it?
  3. Find better coverageRead laterally: open new tabs and see what independent outlets and fact-checkers say.
  4. Trace claims to the originFind the original study, video or document. Check dates and whether quotes are cut.
  5. Ask what would change your mindReal theories can be tested. If every piece of counter-evidence 'proves' the cover-up, it can't be.
  6. Count the peopleBig secret plots need thousands of people to stay silent for years. That rarely happens.
  7. Talk, don't mockWith friends or family, ask questions, listen, share your own sources calmly. Shame backfires.
  8. PrebunkLearn the common tricks (cherry-picking, fake experts, false dilemmas) so you spot them early.

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